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Simon Heffer

Simon Heffer is a political columnist and Associate Editor at the Daily Telegraph, having served as a columnist on the Daily Mail from 1995 to 2005. He regularly appears on television and radio programmes such as Question Time, What the Papers Say and Any Questions.

Born in 1960, he was educated King Edward’s School, Chelmsford and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he read English.

After a spell as a medical journalist and freelance leader writer for The Times, he joined the Daily Telegraph, where until 1991 he worked as a leader writer and parliamentary sketch writer. In 1991 he was appointed deputy editor and political correspondent of the Spectator where he stayed until 1994.

From 1991 to 1994 he was also a columnist on the Evening Standard, and from 1993 to 1994 a columnist on the Daily Mail. In 1994 he returned to the Telegraph as deputy editor and as a weekly political columnist, before switching to the Daily Mail as chief political columnist in 1995.

In 1993 he won the Charles Douglas Home prize for his study of the exercise of the Royal Prerogative in the British constitution.

His highly acclaimed biography of Thomas Carlyle, MORAL DESPERADO, was published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson in 1995. In 1998 they also published two more of his books, firstly his definitive account of the life of ENOCH POWELL, followed by EDWARD VII: POWER AND PLACE. NOR SHALL MY SWORD – THE REINVENTION OF ENGLAND was published in 1999.

His other books include TORY SEER, a biography with Charles Moore of T.E. Utley published by Hamish Hamilton in 1989 and the DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF 100 BEST CRICKET MATCHES (1990).

Simon’s biography of Vaughan Williams, was also published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 2000 and THE GREAT BRITISH SPEECHES was published by Quercus in May 2007. Simon is currently working on POWER: A HISTORY for delivery to Nottinghill Editions in Autumn 2011.

Simon was invited by Corpus Christi Cambridge to do post doctoral work for the calendar year of 2010, when he took a sabbatical year from the newspaper, but continued to contribute three weekly columns (for The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and Telegraph.co.uk <http://Telegraph.co.uk> ), whilst continuing to work on other projects for TMG.

Simon's latest book STRICTLY ENGLISH: HOW TO WRITE CORRECTLY was released by Random House in Spring 2010 to wide critical acclaim.

He is married with two children and lives in Essex. He also writes regularly on cricket and classical music.

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